Building a Profitable Online Business – Truths & Myths
Building a Profitable Online Business can be extremely rewarding but it does take work, ambition and investment (time and money) For some reason there still seems to be a lot misconception around the online business industry: Mainly that it’s an easy and fast route to wealth and freedom that requires little effort. That’s not been my experience of building a profitable online business and I wanted to cover a few home truths for anyone considering doing it.
The Myths About Building A Profitable Online Business
It’s Free Or At Least Extremely Cheap.
I think this one arises from the fact that you don’t need much to start a profitable online business – at least compared to a traditional one. If you start as an affiliate marketer as most do you don’t even need your own products. You can simply sign up to some affiliate networks and get started.
The fact is though that you do need websites, automation software and a host of other things as your business develops. You’ll also need to get seriously good at one or two marketing strategies, which will usually involve some training courses.
Then of course you will need to advertise to bring traffic to whatever it is you are selling. That will probably be your biggest ongoing cost (I should say investment) If you are building a profitable online business that is rather than an expensive hobby.
It Will Be In Profit Really Fast.
Again when compared to a traditional business where you may have had to invest a serious chunk of cash up front, an online business can most definitely be in profit fast. But not overnight.
The only way that an new online business – even selling affiliate products – will get into profit very quickly would be: The products you choose pay a very high commission and you are positioned well in the pay plan; You get extremely good at marketing and paid advertising very quickly; You have the budget to outsource your marketing and advertising.
It Takes No Time At All To Run.
That is definitely true – eventually. Once you’ve got the great products, the great sales funnels and have cracked the marketing and advertising side of things that is. It takes very little time to place an advert on most advertising platforms and the rest of the process from lead to sale can be largely automated. But every successful advertising campaign starts with a lot of research and testing
To get to that stage however takes a lot of work – not the slaving in a coal mine kind of work – but work nonetheless. There are systems to set up and a lot of other background work such as setting up social media, syndicating content and making sure everything is synced up and compliant.
I Can Do It On My Own.
Probably not. Although you may well be running a one man or woman business from home – or anywhere you can plug a laptop into the internet, very few, if anyone has built a profitable online business without help. That can range from technical help to mentorship, training and just good old fashioned shoulders to cry on. For most people coming from an employed or traditional business background, building a profitable online business takes a serious shift in mindset.
Top Tips For Building A Profitable Online Business
As someone who has been running an online affiliate marketing business for a couple of years – preceded by a few years in the online wilderness of MLMs, programmes and unsustainable online “opportunities” – here is my advice.
Be prepared to invest money and time in the right training, mentorship and digital business systems. Your going to be building a PROFITABLE online business after all aren’t you? Be also prepared to set aside a regular budget for advertising: Start small then scale up by re-investing some of your profits.
If you start as an affiliate – Selling other peoples products and services – make sure they generate a initial commission as well as an upgrade path which you can also earn from on a long term basis. This increases your ability invest in advertising and grow the business through list building activities.
Look for products and services that offer residual income streams: Membership products for example.
Don’t try to learn everything too quickly. Master one online marketing strategy, get it working for you then start on another. You don’t want all your eggs in one basket but you also don’t want to stretch your budget or focus too far.
Check out the SFM’s free video training series on the link below. They offer all of the above in one place. You’ll start by watching a short video by internet marketing supremo and co-founder of SFM and DEA Stuart Ross explaining the 5 basic steps to building a profitable online business.
By Dave Menzies
